


Storm Strand

by tinyangl



Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF, Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: F/M, Video Game Company AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-17
Updated: 2012-03-17
Packaged: 2018-07-14 13:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7173935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyangl/pseuds/tinyangl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The simple task of casting their main character ends up not being very simple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Storm Strand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [_sine](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=_sine).



> Resources credited below—so as not to spoil anyone. :D I have never worked on a video game myself so this may be glaringly inaccurate. I apologize—my research is solely Google and the game **Game Devstory** (which btw is addicting). Thanks to my betas Reen and Cyn for all their help in this—especially having patience as I freaked out while writing this. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this . I admire you greatly so I just really wanted to write something that you might like. I hope I at least came close. ♥♥♥ (Originally posted [here](http://je-whiteday.livejournal.com/56328.html) for 2012!)

Nino's growl echoes down the hallway and into everyone's offices. In their joint office, Aiba and Matsujun exchange looks before they immediately shake their fists at each other. Three times before Aiba extends 'scissors' to Matsujun's 'paper'. Matsujun curses while Aiba props his feet on top of his desk, beaming. Matsujun's about to stand up when Sho pokes his head inside.

"Sorry to waste your janken, but we all need to be there."

Aiba's smile drops in a second before he starts to sputter, "Bu—"

"Oh-chan has been with Nino for an hour."

Matsujun flinches as Aiba quickly stands up, almost tripping over an open drawer in the process. "We're coming, Nino-chan!" Aiba yells, dashing out the door.

Matsujun sighs, rubbing an imaginary throb in his forehead. "When will he be done?"

Sho shrugs, looking as exhausted. "Not soon enough."

† † †

They're in the final stages of finishing up their video game, **Storm Strand** , but Nino cannot—will not, more like—choose a person to voice the lead female. "Look," he snaps to the Arashi Studios team. "She has to be _perfect_."

"And we understand that," Sho says as soothingly as he can. "But you’ve had auditions for weeks now and haven't chosen a single person."

Nino frowns, spinning around in his chair. "None of them sounded like Mayu."

Matsujun snorts. "How would you know that? You haven't hired anyone to voice her."

Somehow, Nino manages to hit Matsujun between the eyes with a small wad of paper, never stopping in his rotation. He does eventually hook his feet around the base of his chair, coming to a sudden stop with a large sigh. "Look, once I find her, she _will_ be perfect. You're just going to have to trust me."

"Kazu-chan," Ohno speaks up—possibly for the first time in the whole hour he's been sitting beside Nino's desk. He closes his sketchbook with a sad smile. "You have until the end of the week."

Nino blinks at him. The rest of the team blinks at him—Ohno has never been this firm with Nino. "But, Oh-chan, it's Thursday."

"So that gives you three days." Ohno starts to stand, but Nino reaches over to tug on his shirt. The rest of the Arashi team looks on, bewildered—it looks scarily like a son trying to convince his dad of something.

"Oh-chan."

"Kazu-chan," Ohno returns.

There are no words passed, just a never-ending stare.

Nino finally slumps back in his chair with a heaving sigh. "Okay, Monday it is."

Ohno gives Nino a smile before turning around. He blinks, cocking his head to the side. "Oh, that's right, you guys were here."

With a half-laugh, Sho claps a hand on Matsujun's shoulder. "Guess they didn't need us after all."

Matsujun rolls his eyes as he starts to walk towards the door, pulling a confused Aiba with him by the collar.

"So we didn't need to be here?" Aiba asks. "Jun-kun, did Nino-chan just say he'd be done by Monday? How's he going to decide? What's—" The stream of questions fade into the hallway, Sho and Ohno right behind their heels. The door slams closed, and Nino allows himself another sigh.

"Damn it," he mutters, before turning his computer on while wondering if he'd overlooked someone. (Nino's sure he hasn't.)

  
† † †

**Game Design Pitch Document**  
---  
   
**TEAM NAME** | |     Arashi Studios  
---  
**TEAM MEMBERS**  
---  
**Name** | **Date of Birth**  
|     Sakurai Sho  
---  
|    25/01/1982  
---  
**Role(s)** | **Male/Female**  
|     Director  
---  
|    Male  
---  
**Name** | **Date of Birth**  
|     Aiba Masaki  
---  
|    24/12/1982  
---  
**Role(s)** | **Male/Female**  
|     Writer  
---  
|    Male  
---  
**Name** | **Date of Birth**  
|     Matsumoto Jun  
---  
|    30/08/1983  
---  
**Role(s)** | **Male/Female**  
|     Writer/Coder  
---  
|    Male  
---  
**Name** | **Date of Birth**  
|     Ohno Satoshi  
---  
|    26/11/1980  
---  
**Role(s)** | **Male/Female**  
|     Illustrator  
---  
|    Male  
---  
**Name** | **Date of Birth**  
|     Ninomiya Kazunari  
---  
|    17/06/1983  
---  
**Role(s)** | **Male/Female**  
|     Sound Producer  
---  
|    Male  
---  
  
† † †

Nino spends the rest of the day skipping through the previous interviews; a total of 34 actresses had auditioned. Not a single one sounded like what he envisioned for their main character, Kagura Mayu. Most were too high-pitched for his liking; others were too gravelly, and a few just couldn't act.

He sighs again, putting his head between his hands, elbows propped up on his desk. By this point, two months after Ohno finalized the graphics, Nino should've had all of Mayu's vocals recorded, all of the antagonist Detective Asama Reiji and maybe even some of the third character Ryuhei

The only good thing is that he's gotten everything else done—the background music and the sound effects and any other audio related tasks.

"Nino-chan~" Aiba's voice sing-songs as the door creaks open. Aiba's head pokes out between the gap. "You've been in here for _forever_. Wanna go get a snack?"

Nino's first inclination is to say no, but when he looks back at his computer, the folder filled with the interview .mp3s on the screen, he says "Okay" instead.

Aiba beams at him, pushing the door further to step in. "Great! Do you mind getting me an onigiri?"

Nino stares at him blankly in the middle of getting up. "What?"

"Jun-kun's getting a little crabby, and you know that means he's getting hungry. And you know, I'm kind of wrapping things up so if you could—" The words hang there but Nino gets it. He laughs and sighs at the same time before pushing away from his desk and walking around it to punch Aiba in the shoulder.

"I should've expected that."

Aiba beams again, handing him a 500 yen coin. "You'll still go?"

"Might as well," Nino says, stuffing the coin into his pocket. "I'm not getting any luckier relistening to the auditions. And this room is getting stuffier." He pulls on his shirt collar, even though there's really nothing to shift in a t-shirt.

The smile on Aiba's face fades a little as he pats Nino on the back. "I'm sure you'll find Mayu."

Nino snorts. "Or at least her not-as-great clone."

"Nobody else will know the difference."

"Not comforting, just so you know."

A second after they step outside of Nino's office, Matsujun growls, "Aiba!" Aiba winces and Nino laughs, patting him on the back this time. "Looks like he's looking for you."

"Maybe I'll join you after all," Aiba mutters, except he turns around to walk back to his shared office. Nino shakes his head and walks out into their lobby where a usually-bored Naka Riisa is flipping through a magazine by the receptionist's desk. He gives her a nod as he walks out which she returns with a wave, her attention never leaving the magazine.

† † †

It's not the " _Irrashaimase_ " that triggers it—although it does make Nino pause a second as he steps into Lawson's. He blinks, looking up from the floor to the cashier who gives him a head bob. She smiles afterwards which he returns before shuffling into an aisle.

It takes him a while before he reaches the cashier—not because he didn't know where to find the onigiri, but because he doesn't want to get back to the office sooner. It's her "Thank you!" as he's about to pay that really triggers it.

Nino stops rustling through his wallet. looks up and stares at the woman. She hasn't noticed yet, bagging his items—five onigiris (he's trying to be a little generous to the others even if they are the cheapest selections) and a can of cold coffee—and ringing them up. "That's 820 yen," she says when done, looking up to meet his eyes.

Nino doesn't move though, still blinking at her before his gaze falls to her name tag. "Yuko," it reads.

"Um," Yuko prompts—reminding him that he should be paying right now. "That's 820 yen?"

"Right," Nino exhales. "Here." He hands her a 1000 yen bill before he takes a deep breath.

It's quiet in the store when she says cheerfully, "A thousand yen. 180 yen back. Thank you for shopping at Lawson's." The voice echoes in his ears as she gives him his change. Trying to concentrate—but failing—Nino fumbles to stuff the coins into his wallet’s pocket.

"Can you—" he starts, but Yuko is handing him his bag with a firm smile.

"Have a good day!"

Nino doesn't understand why his feet are taking him out the door and it doesn't register until he hears the sliding doors close behind him.

"Fuck," he mutters as he stuff his hands into his pockets and walks back to the office.

When he meets Aiba in the lobby, the first thing he says is "I found her."

† † †

"So it's true?" Riisa asks Matsujun when he enters the break room.

He looks at her wearily before making a beeline for the coffee machine. "I don't even have context for that question."

Riisa rolls her eyes, taking a sip of her coffee. "As though there's any other gossip in this office. I'm talking about Ninomiya-kun and his muse."

"Oh, the Lawson's lady."

"So it _is_ true! Is Ninomiya-kun going to hire her?"

Matsujun pours coffee into his own mug before turning to face her. "I don't know." He shrugs. "As far as I know, he hasn't asked her yet."

"Is he going to?"

"Maybe." Matsujun moves into the chair in front of her. "He's there now trying to get up the courage to ask."

Riisa laughs. "And I'm guessing Aiba-kun graciously offered to accompany him?"

"What gave that away?" Matsujun snorts.

"I saw Aiba-kun pulling Ninomiya-kun out of the building."

Matsujun raises an eyebrow. "It's cheating if you already saw."

Riisa grins. "I never implied I pulled that out of thin air. It just sounded that way."

He pauses before asking, "Isn't that the definition of—"

"Shush, Matsumoto," Riisa says as she gets up. "It makes perfect sense."

It isn't until Riisa has fully left the room before Matsujun realizes something. He gets up, walks over to the door and yells at Riisa's back. "That should be Matsumoto- _kun_!"

The only response he gets is a faint string of laughter.

† † †

The knock on his desk startles Nino enough that he almost flips his keyboard over. Thankfully, the person standing over his desk is only Sho.

Sho's eyes are wide though and he looks like he wants to back away slowly. Nino pulls off his earphones and sighs loudly. "Sho-chan, did you need something?"

"Um" is all Sho can seem to manage—his eyes haven't quite un-widened yet.

"Sho-chan," Nino repeats.

"Right." Sho shakes his head slightly. "It's Monday and I just wanted—"

"I chose her.”

Sho pauses before slowly saying, "Lawson's lady?"

Nino rolls his eyes. "Her name is Takeuchi Yuko-san and while _yes_ I did find her at Lawson's I'd rather everyone not call her 'Lawson's lady'."

"So… She will be coming today then?"

Nino exhales and leans back in his chair. "I—" he starts but then shuts his mouth, pursing his lips. "I hope so."

Sho blinks. "You did ask her, right?"

"Of course," Nino says; he resists from rolling his eyes again. "But I'm not entirely sure she believed me."

"Probably because it sounded like a pick-up line," Aiba chimes in from the doorway.

Nino tilts to the side to catch sight of Aiba's grin. Nino sneers in reply.

"A pick-up line?" Sho asks; his tone is curious.

Aiba laughs as he walks in. "You should've seen Nino-chan pacing back and forth at the entrance. After a minute or two, he’d stop in front of the doors which would open up. He'd see her—she'd say ' _Irrashimase_.' And he'd scurry off. Only to start all over again like five minutes later."

When Sho laughs, Nino levels a glare at him, causing Sho to quickly clam up. The same glare doesn't work on Aiba who's still snickering.

"Anyway, he did finally manage on Saturday when she was coming off shift. It was weird though because Nino's usually a smooth talker. But he was stumbling over his words and it took him _forever_ to correct her that he wasn't drunk."

This time Nino's glare doesn't work when Sho outright laughs.

"And-and," Aiba continues. "When he was handing her his card, he practically jumped back when her hand touched his."

"I did not!"

Aiba gives him one look and Nino grumbles, sitting back in his chair.

"So what happened after he gave her his card?" Sho asks.

Aiba shrugs. "Not much. She kind of hesitated in accepting it. Told him something about how she wasn't sure and Nino just looked dejected. Told her he hoped she'd come and check it out at least. That we really were a company and it really was a job."

"Are we done reliving my failures now?" Nino sighs.

"Was she pretty?" Matsujun asks, entering the room.

Nino groans, dropping his head to his desk—forehead hitting the surface.

"Very," Aiba says—his grin evident in his voice. "Not normally Nino's type since she's older, but very, very pretty."

Matsujun smirks, leaning over Nino's desk to pat him on the head. "So maybe it was a bit of a line."

"Was not," Nino mumbles into his desk. "She's Mayu."

"So she'll come?" Sho asks.

Nino sighs, sitting back up. "I hope so." The smiles he gets from the others are a bit uncomfortable. "Anyway, get out of my office. Don't you idiots have other things to do than pester me?"

Aiba looks like he's about to say something, but Matsujun claps a hand on his shoulder. Aiba's mouth closes; instead he gives Nino a nod. Matsujun waves as he pulls Aiba out of the room. Sho follows except he hesitates at the door. He turns back to Nino and opens his mouth.

"I'm looking for an alternative," Nino says, cutting him off.

Sho gives him a sad smile. "For what it's worth, I hope she comes."

Nino smiles and watches as Sho leaves. As he puts on his headphones, Nino mutters, "I hope so too" to himself.

It's 10:00 am.

† † †

When noon rolls around, Nino eats lunch telling himself that there's still the whole afternoon left.

When 2:00 pm passes, Nino tells himself that maybe she had errands to run and that she was going to come at the end of the day. After all, he hadn't been planning on working the first day—just giving background, getting her acquainted. That is if she was coming to say yes and not to turn him down—the job, that is.

By 3:30 pm, Nino's pretty much pulling his hair out. There's still about two hours to the day left, but he's been listening to past auditions for the fourth time now. At least, since he knows what he wants Mayu to sound like, he _has_ been able to narrow it down.

But none of them are Takeuchi Yuko.

At around 4:00, voices in the corridor wake him up. Nino yawns, rubbing his eyes and wondering when in the hell he fell asleep. His office is closest to the lobby, so the voices often carry into his room—but he's not entirely sure why this time it feels more important.

He remembers his expected guest a second later and pokes his head out of his office to see who's being so loud. All Nino sees though is Matsujun and Riisa bickering as usual by her desk. He groans. "Can't you guys flirt somewhere else?" he asks, walking towards the lobby.

When Matsujun and Riisa turn to look at him, Nino realizes there's another person there. A third person that looks scarily like Takeuchi Yuko. Nino freezes, staring straight at her. She smiles back and bows towards him.

"Perfect timing, Ninomiya-kun!" Riisa says—almost at a yell towards him. "You have a visitor."

"I see that." Nino swallows, starting to walk—jog—run towards them. He gets there faster than he expects, a little breathless as he continues to stare at Yuko. "When were you going to tell me?"

Riisa snorts. "I was _going_ to, except Matsumoto came to bother me and—"

"-kun!" Matsujun interjects. "It's Matsumoto- _kun_. You called _him_ Ninomiya-kun, why am I different?"

"So I'm going to take Takeuchi-san into my office," Nino says, stepping around Matsujun to gesture Yuko into the hallway.

"Of course!" Riisa bows, completely ignoring Matsujun who is still waiting for an answer. "Have a good day, Ninomiya-kun! Takeuchi-san!"

Yuko returns her bow and as they walk down the corridor, they can hear Riisa and Matsujun start up again. "Are they always like this?" she asks.

"Pretty much," Nino answers as they reach his door. "The name thing is new though. Last time it was that she ate his last donut. He didn't drop it for _weeks_."

Yuko's eyebrow rises as she settles into the chair in front of his desk. "Always exciting here?"

"As exciting as an office environment can be," Nino answers as he sits. He pauses. "I'm glad you came."

Yuko smiles and plays with the ends of her hair. "I wasn't sure I would come."

"But you did."

"I did." She nods. "I'm sorry I couldn't come in earlier. I had a morning shift and couldn't find someone to switch with me."

Nino shakes his head. "It's no problem. I never specified what time you should come today… All that matters is that you're here."

"Are you really interested in me voicing your main character? Wouldn't a professional be better?"

Nino shakes his head again. "We've had professionals audition but… they weren't what I was looking for."

"And I am?"

Nino exhales, wondering why suddenly the question feels loaded. But he has no hesitation when he says, "Yes."

Yuko smiles at him—a simple close-lipped smile that lights up her face. "What do I have to do?"

"Does that mean you'll do it?" Nino asks.

It takes her a moment but she answers confidently, "Yes."

"Great," Nino says. "Welcome to the team, Takeuchi-san."

Yuko hesitates for a second before saying, "Yuko is fine."

Nino blinks, swallows harshly before repeating, "Yuko...-san." She laughs, covering her mouth with her hand.

"That's fine too." Nino really hopes that the grin he has on right now doesn't look as ridiculous as it feels. Except Yuko has a similar one pointed at him, so he's not entirely sure he minds.

  
† † †

**GAME NAME** | |     Storm Strand  
---  
**PLATFORMS**     On what systems will your game be played? Consoles? PC? Handheld?  
|    Nintendo DS  
---  
**MARKETING BLURB**     What's your one-sentence description of the game for the back of the box?  
|    In a world where the arrest rate is 100% accurate, help a falsely accused murderer clear her name from the system she helped create.  
---  
  
† † †

"Yes," Yuko snaps, "My DNA being there was simply a misunderstanding. I'm sure they'll completely write it off as an accident." She pauses at the end of the sentence and exhales.

Nino smiles at the other side of the booth before holding a thumb up. With his other hand, he switches on the intercom button and says, "That was great."

Not a second later, the door behind him opens. Nino groans, "You should know better than to enter a recording session."

"Hmm," Ohno says lazily, shutting the door behind him and settling into the chair beside Nino. "Hi, Takeuchi-san."

Yuko smiles at him, having been introduced the day before, and replies with a kind, "Hello, Ohno-san. I hope you're doing well."

"Very. I hope Nino hasn't been too much of a bully. I've heard he can be."

Yuko laughs, shaking her head. "He's been very kind to someone so new at this."

Nino flushes. "Nothing to criticize," he huffs. "Anyway, can I get back to doing what I do?"

"Of course." Ohno smiles. He turns his chair to face Yuko, except Nino kicks it around so it faces him.

"Without an audience," Nino says pointedly, tilting his head towards the door.

"Ah." Ohno starts to get up, heading for the door. Before he turns the knob, he looks back at Nino. "Takeuchi-san looks like a bit like Mayu-chan, Nino. Pretty." Nino blinks at him, a little startled. "I can see why you chose her."

Nino's eyes go wide and he suddenly becomes acutely aware of the fact that he hasn't switched the intercom off. "That's not why I chose her," Nino grits.

"Is that so? I guess I shouldn't listen to Aiba-chan," he says before walking out of the room. The door shuts in Nino's face and he hesitates before turning back around. Yuko is staring at him, her usual smile on her face.

"You two get along very well," she says.

Nino stares. "You got that from _that_?"

"It doesn't take much to see how easily you guys can communicate. It must be nice." Yuko's smile gets a touch brighter, Nino swears.

"Ah." Nino scratches the side of his head. "I guess." They both pause before Nino continues, "Well, shall we keep going?" Yuko nods in response.

† † †

Aiba visits not even an hour later. Nino has to be honest—he kind of expected Aiba to have come _much_ earlier.

Luckily, he opens the door just after a line finishes. "Yuko-chan!" Aiba says cheerfully, waving with both hands. On the other side of the glass, Yuko mirrors the action with a laugh.

Nino rolls his eyes, spinning in his chair to face Aiba. "The intercom's off. She can't hear you."

Aiba pouts, before leaning over and switching the intercom on himself. "Yuko-chan! I'm glad you ended up coming."

"Ah, well, don't say that too soon! Who knows if I'm really that good."

"Nino-chan really believes in you so we all believe in you." Aiba beams which Yuko returns with a laugh.

"I'm glad to hear that then! I'll do my best!" She plays with the edges of her hair before sweeping it back over her shoulder.

"Nino-chan was very sad on Monday when it looked like you weren't—" Aiba doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Nino stands up abruptly, covering Aiba's mouth with his hand and ushering him backwards towards the door. Somehow he manages not to stumble over his own chair along the way.

Aiba is too busy laughing into Nino's hand to put up any struggle, so he just moves with Nino. When Nino finally lets go of Aiba's mouth, the only thing they hear before the door shuts is Aiba's laughter. Nino turns with a growl and Yuko looks like she's laughing, herself.

"I'm sorry I made you sad," she says in between giggles.

Nino rolls his eyes, although his cheeks are a faint pink. "I wasn't _sad_." Nino settles back into his chair. "I was just annoyed at having to listen to the auditions again."

"Ah, well..." she pauses before smiling. "I came."

"Yeah," Nino says faintly. "You did."

Yuko's gaze is too focused on him so Nino finds himself abruptly looking down onto the script. "So for the next line, you might want to do it a little more forcefully."

"Can do," she says and Nino listens at the scratch of her pen against paper—it's a comforting sound to his rapid heartbeat.

† † †

It's in the middle of Nino saying, "If you could do that again, but be more wistful towards the end" that he realizes that Sho has been sitting on the couch on the other side of the room.

"Sure," Yuko says on the other side—and yet again, the sound of pen and paper echoes through the room.

"Give me a minute though." Nino switches off the intercom—finally realizing this is safer. Yuko doesn't seem to notice, her gaze on the sheets in front of her, lips mouthing the next line. "I expected Matsujun to come by next." He turns his chair to face the couch, interlocking his hands behind his head.

Sho blinks. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asks, scrunching his eyebrows together.

"Like you guys didn't talk to each other about coming by throughout today."

"Not... really? I'm guessing since you mentioned Matsujun, Ohno and Aiba already came by?"

"Yes, and decided to humiliate me in front of Yuko-san. Fun times," Nino says dryly.

Sho laughs. "It's nothing you wouldn't do to them."

"That's—" Nino starts but he stops abruptly before shrugging. "Yeah, sounds about right."

"Anyway, I just wanted to see your progress. You've been holed up in this booth for most of the day. Shouldn't you be having lunch by now?"

Nino blinks, lifting up his right hand to look at his watch. It's only then he realizes that it's already past 2:00 pm and they haven't stopped all morning ever since they started after 10:00 am. "Oh." He looks over at Yuko who is looking around the booth without much focus. She does immediately notice his gaze and her smile grows easily. Nino switches on the intercom. "Yuko-san, I didn't realize it was two already. We should break for lunch."

Yuko's eyes go wide and she looks down at her own watch before laughing, her left hand covering her mouth. "I didn't realize it either!" She starts to get up from her chair but pauses in front of the microphone. "Since you have to eat too, shall we have lunch together, Ninomiya-san?"

Nino blinks, hearing Sho's faint laughter from the couch. "Um, sure," he says, mainly because he can't think of a quick excuse for why he shouldn't—why he feels like this is a _bad idea_.

"I'll leave you two to lunch then," Sho says, getting up from the couch just as the door to the recording booth opens. "Have a good meal, Takeuchi-san."

"Thank you, Sakurai-san! Also, thank you very much for alerting us to the time. The day is flying by without us noticing." She shuts the door behind her.

"It did go by pretty fast," Nino murmurs.

"I guess the work was fun?"

"Very much," Yuko comments. "When I was younger, I did want to be an actress for a while—I guess I'm kind of reliving that time." Both Nino and Sho's eyebrows go up.

"Maybe this means you're a natural," Sho replies.

Yuko laughs. "That may be too hopeful." Nino thinks Sho might be right, but he purses his lips and nods.

"We should get to lunch?" Nino asks and Yuko smiles at him, nodding back.

"See you later, Sakurai-san," she says as she walks out. Nino follows behind her.

"Have a good meal," Sho says with hint of amusement in his voice. When Nino turns to glare, he sees Sho waving at them, smirking a little. Nino sneers which Sho returns with a wide grin and a wink. Nino narrows his eyes and he watches as Sho's mouth starts to open.

Nino never does hear if he says something—he swears that the wall came out of nowhere.

"Are you okay?" Yuko asks, panic in her voice. Her hand grips onto his shoulder as she leans close.

"Yeah," Nino grumbles, rubbing at the back of his head. He tries to pull back a little but her grip is stronger than expected. "I probably should've seen that coming."

Yuko exhales a laugh. "I guess things must be okay if you can crack jokes." She lets go, but Nino swears he can still feel the warmth of her hand on him. He doesn't quite know what to do with that thought. Instead he focuses on the corridor and not smacking into another wall anytime soon.

Nino also ignores Riisa's knowing smile as he and Yuko walk out of the lobby together.

† † †

Lunch is more of a quiet event and it passes without much trouble. The ease that they'd worked together somehow spills over to having a meal together.

When they get back to work, time passes by as quickly as it did before lunch. To the point that when Matsujun knocks—he actually _knocks_ to Nino's shock—the crick in Nino's back only just appears. Although from past experience, Nino is sure he's had that for a while.

"Hey, I'm heading out. You two probably should too."

Nino exhales harshly, looking down at his watch. "Shit," he says, turning on the intercom. "Yuko-san, I'm sorry yet again."

The door to the booth opens at the end of his sentence. "We did it again, Ninomiya-san." Yuko laughs. "We should have a bigger clock in this place."

"I'll make sure to put in an order." Nino picks up his stuff from the couch. "Thanks for letting us know, J."

Matsujun rolls his eyes at the nickname. "Figured that I should since you get a little distracted when you're in your element."

"Gets caught up?"

"Pretty much. I guess you do too, Takeuchi-san." They start to walk towards the exit—Nino remembering to shut off the lights and lock the door behind him. Yuko gives him a sideways glance, like she's watching him but as soon as Nino looks at her, her attention has already gone back to Matsujun.

"Never this much in one day. It's nice though—this feeling."

Matsujun gives her a smile. "Well, I'm heading in this direction," he says, pointing towards the right. Nino and Yuko gesture towards the left, looking at each other right after. "Don't get too distracted and miss your streets." Nino resists from making a comment and instead rolls his eyes, turning to the left.

"Do you take the train then?" Yuko asks.

"My apartment's this way. I live pretty close to the office."

"Must be convenient."

"Only when I oversleep."

Yuko laughs and they fall into a comfortable silence.

On their way to the train station, as Nino is trying very hard not to pay attention to Yuko's presence beside him—which isn't working as she keeps humming tunes, swings her arms as she walks and with each movement, brushes up against his shoulder, Yuko says matter-of-factly, "Your door has a lock on it."

Nino turns to her, raising an eyebrow. "As all office doors are prone to having. I believe it's to keep the trolls from leaving at night."

She laughs, lightly hitting his shoulder. "I know you know I meant the other guys coming in throughout today."

"A locked door would hardly keep them away."

"Because they'd manage to find a way in anyway?"

"No." Nino barely manages to keep from laughing. "Because they all have keys." Off Yuko's confused look, he continues, "They might've worked together to get my key from me—" He decides to omit the part that they'd gotten him wasted to do so. "And made personal copies. All this because I might've spent an afternoon or two or weeks inside the room instead of my office."

"But even so!" She laughs

"They might've also suspected I was playing video games instead of working."

"Were you?" Yuko's hand has somehow moved to gripping his arm. Nino pretends not to notice.

"That is a secret between me and the recording booth." Nino's lips curl at the edges into a smirk as he watches Yuko laugh.

"I'm a great secret keeper."

"Well, then between you, me and the booth, I was only doing research. Like 2/3rds of the time."

She laughs. "How studious of you." She finally lets go of his arm, and Nino once again pretends not to notice—but he does allow himself to look over as she clasps her hands together stretching her arms upwards.

"Sorry we stayed so late."

Yuko shakes her head. "It's okay, we should've been paying attention. But..." she pauses, looking at him, eyes confident. "I had fun working today. That's not something people often say."

Nino hates that he can't quickly find the words to follow that. So instead, he manages, "I did too."

The smile she flashes him is probably the brightest that day. "I'm glad," she says. "Anyway, I'm taking this line so I'll see you in two days?"

Nino nods, waving goodbye as he watches her walk down the stairs. He exhales before continuing his walk towards his apartment, wondering why he feels like he can't quite catch his breath. The thought plagues him the whole night through.

  
† † †

**SCREENSHOT**     What will players see on the screen?  
---  
|   
  
---  
**GAMEPLAY**     What happens when you play it? What do you do, and why?  
|    Travel through hidden locations of Tokyo in search for a murderer.    Collect information from the various characters around while making sure none of them catch onto who you are.    Master mini-games related to the DNA analysis system—mastering the system levels you up and every new level opens up what information you can get.  
---  
**CHARACTERS**     Are there any characters in the game? If so, who are they?  
|    Kagura Mayu - Main heroine who finds herself on the run after being accused of murder.    Detective Asama Reiji - The main antagonist chasing down Mayu for arrest.    Ryuhei - Stranger whom Mayu meets on her journey, seems to know more than he lets on, but helps her escape the police on numerous occasions.  
---  
  
† † †

Because of Yuko's regular schedule at Lawson's, they set up a system where she would come in on the days that she had night shifts, which were only three days a week. The remainder of the time, Nino arranged to fit in the recordings of the other voice actors—hiring a Sakai Masato to play Mayu's companion (and potential love interest) and a Sato Koichi to play Detective Asama.

Nino had already liked the two men during the auditions process, but had wanted to make sure they sounded good alongside whoever he had chosen for Mayu—and they did.

"Perfect," Nino tells Sakai as he finishes his last line of the day. "You'll be free to come in next Friday to work with Yuko-san?"

Sakai gives him a thumbs up from the other side of the glass before he starts to pull his papers together.

Nino spins in his chair for a second until there's a knock on the door. "Done for the day?" Sho asks, already having turned the knob.

"Yeah, another day done." Nino laces his fingers behind his head.

"Speedy once you got your Mayu chosen."

"I told you that'd be the case."

The door into the booth opens and Sakai smiles as he bows towards Sho. The edges of his eyes wrinkle more as he speaks. "Good work today, Ninomiya-san. Sakurai-san."

"You as well, Sakai-kun." Sho returns the bow with a pleasant smile and they watch as he exits the room. "So it's been about a week since you've started recording," Sho says, settling into the couch. Nino spins his chair again, waiting for Sho to continue. "How much longer do you think?"

"If we go at this pace," Nino says slowly as he stops his spinning abruptly. Sho sighs as Nino clutches his head a little.

"You know that makes you nauseated, yet you still—" Sho grouches.

" _Anyway_ ," Nino emphasizes, "I think we just need two more weeks before all the recording is finalized."

Sho pauses for a minute, eyes looking upwards as he mentally calculates. "So at the end of next month, we should be set to release the game?"

"Sounds feasible," Nino says with a shrug. He makes a move to spin his chair again except Sho reaches out and holds the armrest.

"Go home, Ninomiya. I know tomorrow is a Yuko-san day."

Nino narrows his eyes. "And?"

"Just that I noticed you try a little harder on her days," Sho comments, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"You might want to try that—maybe it'd improve your work progress," Nino snips as he rises.

Sho laughs. "Defensive, huh?"

"And anyway, since when do you call her Yuko-san?"

"She insisted." Sho shrugs. "Who was I to tell her no? Besides, it's not like you're the only one who calls her Yuko-san. Unless that's what you wanted."

Nino rolls his eyes, pointedly ignoring Sho and heading out the door because he has a new game waiting for him at home, not because his cheeks are starting to feel a little red.

† † †

Aiba halts halfway past the break room, only because Nino is sitting there with a child. A _child_ and Nino. As soon as Nino's eyes meet Aiba's, Nino quickly points him out to the kid. "Hey, you should spend the day with that onii-san over there."

The kid stares blankly at Aiba. Still frozen in his spot, it takes Sho knocking into him from behind before he stumbles into the break room.

"Hey, what's a kid doing here?" Sho asks, walking in behind him.

"This is Yuko-san's son," Nino says—his voice a little strained.

Aiba's eyebrows go up. "Yuko-chan has a son?! How old are you?" he asks, heading over to the kid and crouching to meet him at eye level.

"Taro-kun is... five?" Nino hesitates in saying. Taro nods, fiddling with a Nintendo DS which Aiba only just notices for the first time. "Yuko-san had to bring him in today because she couldn't find a sitter."

"Oh," Sho says, looking curiously at the kid. "I hadn't pictured Yuko-san as a mom, but I can see it."

Nino seems to look sideways at the kid, before looking away and leaning against his arm as he stares at the opposite wall.

" _Ne_ , has Nino-chan been treating you well?"

"Okay," Taro says, finally looking away from his game, "but he's boring." Both Sho and Aiba stifle laughs as Taro continues, "And there's nothing interesting here. Isn't it a video game company?"

Aiba giggles. "I bet Nino-chan is just hiding his game stash from you."

Nino's eyes go wide as he leans over the table to bat at Aiba—except the table's much wider than he is and he only just brushes fingers against Aiba's shoulder. "Aiba."

Except Aiba is already holding Taro's hand and walking towards Nino's office. "He keeps the best stuff behind this fake book in the fourth shelf down on his bookcase. He doesn't think anyone knows, but we've borrowed a game or two at some point."

Nino stares as Aiba and Taro disappear around the corner. It isn't until Sho snickers that Nino levels his glare at him. "You better tell Matsumoto he needs to return Dragon Quest," he snaps as he storms out of the room.

Sho shakes his head, sitting down by himself until Ohno drifts into the room.

"What's wrong with Kazu-chan?" Ohno asks, shuffling to the coffee maker. "He came into my office and dropped face-forward onto the couch."

"He found out his Mayu-chan had a life before meeting him."

"Oh." Ohno pauses, "Is that a problem?"

"No, but Nino just needs to mentally deal with this new information."

"Okay," Ohno says before walking out of the break room. Sho smiles when he notices Ohno holding two cups of coffee.

† † †

When Yuko returns after buying their lunch, Nino and Taro are back in the recording booth—Taro with a new game and Nino nursing a cup of coffee. "Thanks, Ninomiya-san," Yuko breathes as she starts to pull food out of bags. "Sorry I took so long though—the line was longer than I'd expected."

Nino shakes his head. "It's no problem. You really didn't have to buy lunch."

"It's the least I can do after putting everyone out of their trouble by bringing Taro here. I'm really sorry—he usually has a sitter."

Nino puts his cup down and starts to help Yuko prepare the table in the recording room. "Really, stop apologizing. I'm—" he hesitates, eyes darting up at Yuko who hasn't noticed—focused on taking utensils out of the bag. "—just surprised to hear you had a son."

Yuko's hands stop moving and Nino quickly averts his gaze, although enough so that he can see a bit of Yuko out of the corner of his eye. "It's just—" she starts but closes her mouth, sitting fully down on the floor—looking up at Taro who is sitting in Nino's usual chair, only a little bit away from them. She exhales and continues, "I don't talk about Taro much because most people look at me differently once they realize I'm a single mom. Like I'm somehow damaged."

Nino doesn't hesitate when he lifts his head, staring straight at her. "You're the strongest person I've met."

There's a silence between them that's only filled up with the noise of Taro hitting the buttons of the DS rapidly. A minute later, Taro looks up from his game, tilting his head to the side. "Lunch is ready?"

"Um, yeah," Yuko says—her voice as shaky as Nino feels. "Come over here, Taro. And make sure not to dirty Ninomiya-san's Nintendo DS."

"'Kay!" Taro says as he hops off the chair and dashes over to them. He hands the DS to Nino before sitting on the floor next to Yuko. Nino watches as she attends to Taro, preparing a small plate of food that she sits on the table in front of him.

"Ninomiya-san?" Yuko asks, handing him a plate. "What do you want?"

"Nino."

Yuko blinks at him. "What?"

"You can call me Nino." He takes the plate from Yuko, already starting to put food onto it—anything to look away from her at this moment. "That's all."

"Okay," Yuko says. "Thanks, _Nino_...-san."

Nino smiles. Up until he hears something hit the table and looks down to see some of Taro's food had traveled over to his side of the table and landed on his Nintendo DS.

"Taro!" Yuko says, wide-eyed, rushing over to Nino's side with a napkin. "I'm so sorry, Nino-san."

Nino stares at Taro who is staring right back at Nino. "It's—no problem." 

Taro humphs at him and goes back to eating his food. Nino makes sure to tuck away his Nintendo DS somewhere else and lends Taro Aiba's DS for the remainder of the day.

† † †

Riisa sighs as she flips through her second magazine of the day.

"You know, you should be seem a little more attentive as the front desk receptionist."

She rolls her eyes, closing the magazine and tucking it to the side. "And you should be doing work, not arguing with the front desk receptionist-slash-secretary. Do you think our guests would like to see two people bickering as soon as they enter Arashi studios?"

"I wouldn't bicker if you weren't so—" Matsujun quickly clams up.

Riisa narrows her eyes. "So what, Matsumoto? I dare you to finish that sentence."

He shakes his head. "Forget it. There's no point."

"Anyway, I _am_ very attentive," Riisa retorts. "I'm so attentive that I know that Ninomiya-kun has both Sakai Masato and Takeuchi Yuko in studio today."

"We all know that," Matsujun snorts. "That doesn't award you any points."

"Well, did you know that the two of them seem to know each other?" Riisa doesn't resist from smirking when she sees Matsujun's eyebrows furrow.

"And how would you know that?"

She shrugs. "I overheard him asking how she's _been_. That's not the kind of question you ask someone you meet for the first time. And, it was obvious that she seemed a little comfortable with him—walking beside him so close their elbows bump."

"She does that with Nino too."

"That says something about _their_ relationship. This is an entirely different thing."

"I think you're reading into things."

"And I think you just suck at reading people." Riisa sees Sakai and Yuko walking towards them from behind Matsujun and she bows in reply. The two bow back and start to walk out, never stopping whatever conversation they were having. Matsujun and Riisa watch as Yuko accidentally bumps into Sakai, apologizing for a second before launching right back into conversation.

"Huh," Matsujun mutters, his gaze still hasn't left the doors.

"Should've put money down on that." Riisa sighs, pulling her magazine back out.

"Forget it. I wouldn't be stupid enough to bet on something like that."

"Boring," Riisa sing-songs as she flips through her magazine.

"Whatever you say," Matsujun says as he walks away. It isn't until she's finished flipping through the pages that she realizes that there's something new sitting at the edge of her counter. Leaning over to grab it, she laughs when she realizes it's the newest editions of her two usual magazines.

"Damn it, Matsumoto," she mutters, a smile on her lips as she picks up the first to start reading.

† † †

"You should be careful," Matsujun says. Nino watches as he _daintly_ picks up his wine glass and takes a little sip. He really should learn to stop letting Matsujun take him to wine bars—it's not his thing.

"With what?" Nino asks, his hand comfortably around a beer bottle.

"Takeuchi-san."

Nino stops—stops moving, stops thinking, stops breathing. When it all rushes back to him, he says, as casually as he can manage, "What are you talking about? There's nothing to be careful about?"

"Nino," is all Matsujun says, but the pure force of it is enough to make Nino really wish he'd said no to drinking.

"Jun. Stop. There's nothing to be worried about."

"I'm just putting it out there is all. And I'm also putting out that it may have looked like Sakai-san and Takeuchi-san know each other." Matsujun takes another sip of his wine.

"I know." Nino gulps down his beer. Puts it down, then picks it up again to drink more before he continues to speak. "They talked about how they'd known each other in college, were in the same club even. But you know, people fall out of contact and it was funny meeting again like they had."

"Oh." Matsujun blinks. "So that's how it is."

"Yeah, how'd you find out?"

"Riisa-chan noticed how close they seemed and she might've mentioned something to me."

Nino snorts. "Likely. You went to bother her at the front desk again, huh?"

"I wouldn't call it _bothering_ ," Matsujun says, his attention on the wall behind Nino's head—never meeting Nino's gaze.

"Okay, another word then. How about flirting?" Nino smirks as Matsujun glares.

"Definitely not that," Matsujun grits. "We talk. Banter. That's it."

Nino laughs. "I'll believe that when I stop seeing you looking at her when she's not paying attention."

"I don't do that!" Matsujun protests, but even in the dark light, Nino can catch his cheeks reddening.

"I believe you." Matsujun glares in response.

"Thankfully, you're not voice-acting. That was hardly convincing."

"I could act laps around you," Nino retorts. "Mr. I'm not in love with Naka Riisa-chan."

"You're not any better, Mr. I'm not in love with Takeuchi Yuko."

"Didn't you just affirm that you _are_ in love with her?"

"What?" Matsujun stares. "That does not connect."

"Well, if you think I'm in love with Yuko and you think that I'm not doing any better than hiding my so-called feelings... doesn't that imply _you're_ hiding your feelings?"

Matsujun sputters, lowering his glass onto the counter. "No. Absolutely not."

Nino laughs. "Besides, I'm not in love with Yuko-san." He says it so firmly that Matsujun actually stares. "I just think she's an amazing woman and think very highly of her."

Matsujun pauses and sighs. "That's not that far away."

"Yeah," Nino exhales. "I know."

They clink—glass against glass before finishing off both drinks. "Next," they tell the bartender.

† † †

The remaining week flies by faster than Nino had expected. Sakai finishes mid-week and Yuko's last session is on Friday.

"It feels like I only just found you," Nino says over lunch together.

Yuko laughs. "I don't know if _found_ is the right word."

"Scouted?" Nino amends. "Whichever word is right, it's just strange to think that it's done after this."

"Well, I wouldn't mind working future projects," she says, grinning.

Nino pauses. "I think you should try for more voice-acting jobs. You really were one of the better ones from all those I've ever worked with."

"Is that a large pool of people?" Yuko asks curiously.

"I interned and worked at other video game companies before we made Arashi Studios. So, I've had my share of voice actors and actresses."

Yuko smiles. "Then I really appreciate the compliment."

"It's the truth," He sits back in his chair after finishing his meal.

"You do that so easily, you know," Yuko says, looking a bit pensive.

Nino blinks. "What's that?"

"Say things that people usually struggle with and do it with ease. Like there wasn't a thought in your mind that this would be the wrong thing to say. Or would be strange to say and hear. The confidence there. It's a good quality."

He stops breathing. "It's—" Nino starts, except there aren't any words in his head. Nothing there that he wants to say. Nothing he can think of to say. "It's not that easy," he admits. "We all have things we'd like to say, but can't. I just happen to choose the right thing to say at the right time."

Yuko 'hmm's lightly before eating a spoonful of rice. After she chews and swallows, she says, "Then what would you say if we were actually parting after this meal? If this was actually the last time we'd ever see each other since the job is over."

Nino stares—isn't sure where this is going, but his heart hurts a little at the question and he hates that. Hates that he's not ready for this. So he exhales instead. "I would say..."

"Say?" she prompts after a few seconds of silence.

"I would say," he repeats before biting down lightly on his bottom lip. Nino inhales and exhales again; his palms are starting to get sweaty. He closes his eyes, the last thing he sees is Yuko's expectant gaze. "I would say that we shouldn't say goodbye, because there's no such thing as a perfect goodbye. Only a perfect see you later."

When he opens his eyes, Yuko is smiling. After a beat, she says with laughter in her voice. "You know, Nino-san, you're surprisingly sentimental sometimes."

Nino laughs, swallowing back his panic. "Just don't alert the media on this. We'll make it another secret between you, me and the booth."

Yuko's smile widens.

  
† † †

**STORY**     Outline the plot, set-up or narrative progression of the game.  
---  
|    In 2017, the arrest rate is now 100% with a 0% false charge rate thanks to the creation of the DNA Analysis System. Kagura Mayu, a DNA scientist, has been working for the Metro Police in Japan until her DNA is found at the murder scene of the DNA analysis system's developer. With no recollection, she is forced to go on the run, chased by Detective Asama Reiji every step of the way. Mayu meets Ryuhei who helps her reveal the true murderer and clear her name.  
---  
**ENVIRONMENT**     Where does the game take place? What does the world of this game look like?  
|    Tokyo in 2017. Underwater laboratory, Sewer system, Alleyways, University library, Clubs, etc. Visually, the game will have a lot of dark backgrounds as most of the places visited are dark/secluded areas.   
---  
**UNIQUE SELLING POINT**     In summary, what makes your game different from other games on the market?  
|    The exciting storyline combined with passionate characters—falling in love with the game is very easy. The creative mini-games combined with the mystery stir the brain.  
---  
  
† † †

Nino supposes he should've expected something would happen—considering how easily the recording sessions went. There couldn't be so much up without there being any down. Which is why when his room goes pitch black towards the end of the work day, all Nino does is bury his head in his head with a loud sigh.

He hears the footsteps dashing towards his office seconds before a light shines against him, the brightness of it blinding at first when he looks up.

"Nino-chan!" Aiba sounds panicked—predictably enough. "Are you okay?!"

"The blackout only _just_ happened," Nino says dryly. "How could I get up to trouble already?"

Aiba shrugs—or at least that's what Nino figures when the light moves up his face and then back down. "Sho-chan already tripped over his desk and managed to spill all the papers onto the floor."

Nino pauses before laughing. "Of course he did. That sounds just like Sho."

"I'd be offended if I wasn't too busy trying to get our power back on," Sho says from the doorway, voice slightly muffled against a cell phone.

"Is it the whole neighborhood?" Nino asks, still squinting into the light.

"No, just our building," Matsujun chimes in from behind Sho.

"Huh, that's weird," Aiba says.

"Did you remember to save?" Matsujun asks Nino.

Nino rolls his eyes. "I'm not new to this, J. I might've lost a few minutes of work, but nothing too bad." Just as he says this, the lights flicker back on and Aiba lets out a large sigh.

"Thank God!" Aiba says happily. "It would've not been fun working without electricity."

"Not that we could've without computers," Nino points out.

"Oh. True." Aiba tilts his head to the side as Matsujun reaches over to pluck the flashlight from his hands.

"Don't waste that," Matsujun snipes as he turns it off.

"Now that the panic is over, can you guys get out of my office?" Nino asks.

"So kind," Sho says dryly. "I see there's no thanks given for—" He doesn't get to finish his sentence as Matsujun and Aiba rush past him and Nino puts in his headphones. Sho huffs and turns back to his own office, making sure not to put much pressure on his left leg.

It takes a few minutes for Nino to turn his computer back on and to set everything up. It takes another few minutes before he realizes something is _horribly wrong_.

The first person that comes into his room is Ohno who looks a little sleepy, rubbing at his eyes. "Kazu-chan?" he asks.

"It's gone" is all Nino can manage. Ohno stares with bleary eyes, not saying a word, just tilts his head and raises an eyebrow. "What I worked on in the past few days—nothing is saved to the game. And somehow the audio files are gone too."

"How?"

"I don't know. Maybe the blackout triggered something or—" Nino's words falter as he combs his hands through his hair, eyes wide at the computer.

"Oh," Ohno says, sitting in front of Nino's desk—he looks a little more attentive now.

"Gone," Nino repeats. "Fuck."

Ohno remains silent for a minute. "There was a blackout?"

† † †

It takes about an hour to coax Nino into a functioning human being. And then another hour of them trying to make sure that he doesn't throw anything against a wall. Luckily, none of the other computers seem to have this problem—only losing what they'd had worked on right before the blackout. And even getting help from a professional doesn't get them anywhere—which means Nino has lost about a third of Yuko's recordings and pretty much _all_ of Ryuhei's recordings.

"We'll just have to call them back in," Nino says, holding his head in his hands and staring straight at a dot on his desk. "It'll take another week and a half to get all that done over—"

"Um," Sho interrupts and Nino lifts his head to stare at him, eyes still a little wider than usual. Sho shifts in his chair, suddenly not able to meet Nino in the eyes. "We have a deadline."

"What?"

"When I was updating the publisher on our progress, he—they wanted some real assurances that we'd have the game to them sooner than later. So I might've given them a date to expect the beta version by. And—" Sho swallows. "We may have until the end of the week."

"So postpone!" Nino says harshly. "That would only give us four days to give them the beta."

Sho finally looks back at him. "Look, I wouldn't make you do this if I didn't think it was necessary, but... we can't."

"Sho," Nino says, eyes widening again. "I can't—" he starts except it dies into a swallow. "That's just not possible."

"All you have to worry about is the recording, okay? The rest of us will work to add it into the game _as_ you record. Then when it's done, you can listen to it over and make sure it was added in properly—that it's just like you wanted it to sound."

Nino exhales sharply. "This is crazy."

"We've done worse." Sho smiles hesitantly.

When Nino gives him one in return, Sho sighs. "Okay, then get out of here," Nino says. "If I have to fix this that soon, then I need to get Yuko-san and Sakai-san back into the studio."

Sho nods, getting up. He pauses at the door, turns back to see Nino already dialing into the phone and says a light "Good luck" on his way out.

Nino only nods in reply.

† † †

Nino doesn't have the time to think about how he'll see Yuko again. Not when he finds out that Sakai can't come back to re-record Ryuhei's lines. "I'm sorry, Ninomiya-san," he says gently over the phone. "But I'm not even in Tokyo at the moment. I wish I could be there."

Nino resists from yelling, because it's not Sakai's fault. It's _not_ , but now he doesn't know what he's going to do without a person to play Ryuhei.

"So why don't you do it?" Riisa asks, as he's sitting in the break room, trying not to completely down his third coffee of the day.

"I'm not an actor," Nino snaps. "That isn't my job."

Riisa rolls her eyes. "It's also not my job to be your punching bag, so tone down the hissing." Nino glares at her which she only returns with a sneer. "Just use it for now, I mean. That way we can make the deadline. Just swap it out later."

"But we're giving them a beta version," Nino says.

"Because the publishers are totally going to remember the voices in a video game."

"They should."

"Whatever," Riisa says with a wave of her hand. "It'll buy you time before Sakai-san can come back and re-record." Nino stares at her for a minute, but then dashes out of the room a second later. She grins. "Just another day at the office," she says to herself. "Saving their asses a little at a time."

† † †

"You again," Taro sighs as he sits down on the recording booth's couch.

"Sorry," Nino says. "I didn't plan to see you or your mom again after this video game project was done."

Taro shrugs. "I know. You're not stupid enough to delete all your work just for a chance to see my mom again."

Nino laughs. "Is that a compliment? Am I growing on you?" He wraps an arm around the kid's shoulder which Taro bats away.

"No," Taro says, tilting his nose up. "I just know you'd treat video games better than that."

This prompts Nino to smile—little victories are little, but they eventually build. Not that that's what he was doing.

" _Ne_ ," Yuko's voice echoes in their room as she knocks against the microphone. "Not to disturb your gossiping session over there, but shouldn't we keep going?"

Nino laughs, rushing back to his panel as he switches on the intercom. "Sorry, sorry, Taro-kun was just telling me all your secrets."

Yuko purses her lips. "Taro would never do anything like that, right Taro?"

"Right!" Taro says from behind, pumping his fist into the air.

Nino rolls his eyes as Yuko laughs—the sound echoes in his ears. "I'll get it from him one day," Nino says.

"You can try," Yuko sing-songs before she grins—there's a touch of fondness in it. Nino returns the grin with ease, and gestures for her to start the next line.

That same day, Nino has to record the interchange between him and Yuko which is actually Nino's first time recording in general. "It's not too bad being in front of the microphone," Yuko says as Nino's putting on his headphones.

He doesn't want to admit he's feeling nervous about this—especially since this is just so they can have a beta version ready to give to the publishers. "Yeah," he says instead. "I know that."

Yuko laughs, tugging Nino to face her direction. "Except you look like someone's about to feed you to the sharks or something." She takes his hands into hers and visibly inhales and exhales. "Just breathe. Sure, there are lines you have to say, but it's basically like talking to someone else. A normal conversation."

"There's nothing normal about having to escape from the cops," Nino says, but it's only a technicality—even he knows that.

"You'll be fine, Nino-san," Yuko says, her thumb smoothing over his knuckles. "Just remember, it's just me you're talking to. You saved me from possibly living a terrible life. I trust you, despite the fact that I barely know you. We're friends."

Nino blinks. He's not entirely sure if she's talking about their personal relationship or their characters. Judging by Matsujun's half-smile on the other side of the booth, he's thinking the same thing. "Okay," Nino swallows. "I can do this."

"Of course you can." She lets go of his hand, smiling at him. "I believe in you."

The words resonate in his chest and Nino wonders what he's supposed to do again when she leaves. "Right," he says instead. "Let's do this."

† † †

They record for three straight days. Three straight days when it's him and Yuko and usually Taro—when the kid isn't playing inside Ohno's office, making drawings of Yuko and Taro that are filled to the brim with all sorts of items around them, leaving no space for anything (or anyone—Nino assumes) to fit in. He feels a little weary at the end of it.

"You did great," Yuko tells him as they're walking to the train station together at the end of the third day.

Nino sighs, adjusting Taro's sleeping body on his back. "I did okay. You did amazing—you don't know how much I appreciate you being able to do all this in such short notice."

Yuko smiles; the light of it catches on a street lamp. "Anything to help."

They're quiet as they walk; Nino's half-sure that she can hear the thumping of his heart in this silence—it echoes in his own ears.

"I don't—" Yuko starts, then stops. Nino tilts his head towards her, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She stops walking completely; Nino follows suit.

"What's wrong?"

"It won't take you a computer malfunction to call again, will it?" She's looking straight at him, not even flinching when he matches her gaze.

"Oh," Nino exhales. "I didn't—" he starts except the words escape him. He's suddenly acutely aware that her son is asleep against his back. "I didn't realize..

Yuko twirls the ends of her hair as she speaks, "It's just that—I've liked this. I've liked spending time with you and seeing you. I just don't think it should end as just a work thing. And I'm usually the last person to mix work and personal, but... I don't think it'd be a bad thing in our case."

Nino wonders where all his words have gone, where everything he's thought of to say at this moment, if it were to happen, has gone. He does finally manage a "Me too." His voice comes out raspy—like he hasn't used it—so he swallows and tries again. "I'd like it if this wasn't just a work thing. If I could see you again." She smiles at him and Nino feels his heart squeeze just a little. "Not tomorrow," he hears himself saying. "Because we still have to finish up the game and maybe not the day after because I think that I'll need a long nap and there's that new game of—" He's grateful when Yuko covers his mouth with her hand.

"We can plan later," she says, half-laughing. "I just wanted to say that."

Nino nods, willing himself not to speak.

She tugs on his arm, and they start walking again—Nino acutely aware that her hand is lightly tucked into the crook of his elbow. The weight on his back doesn't seem as heavy right now. When they reach her train station, Nino passes the sleeping Taro to Yuko. The boy fusses a little against Yuko's back, but he never wakes up.

"Thanks," Yuko says lightly and Nino nods, still forcing himself not to speak. She smiles, leans over to press a faint kiss against his cheeks and then turns into the station.

Nino stares as her back disappears into the crowd of people. Finally, he exhales sharply, trying to force himself _not_ to press hand to cheek. Instead he looks upwards and smiles.

† † †  
Bonus  
† † †

They finish the beta version without any more problems. Thanks to the others adding the audio as the recordings happened, they managed to shorten the time needed to pull the two together. When Nino looks it over, only minor things need to be corrected.

He also realizes that his own voice matches surprisingly well with Yuko's. To the point that the team collectively decides that they should keep it this way. Nino resists at first, but continuous insistence finally wears him down.

 

**Storm Strand** is released two months later.

It debuts at #28, selling a little over 30,000 copies. It's not a mind-blowing release, not the best anyone's done before, they're sure, but it's only a starting point for Arashi studios. There's still more to go—still more they can do. And maybe the next game will get them to #1. (It doesn't. It takes about seven more games before they finally reach #1—it's a long journey, but they enjoy every bump along the way.)

† † †  
Secret Bonus  
† † †

When Yuko finally arrives at the party, she's greeted only by Riisa.

The break room is decked with party balloons and a banner saying "Congratulations!". A cake sits in the middle of the table. Other than that, the room is essentially bare.

"Um," Yuko says. "I see we're partying it up?" She settles into the chair beside Riisa.

Riisa rolls her eyes as she lazily twirls a party favor. "The boys were suddenly hit with a brilliant idea for their newest game about five minutes ago, so that's where _they_ are."

"And... we're the only ones left?"

"No," Riisa says, just as another female enters the room. "Ah, there's Haruka-chan." Yuko watches as said female heads straight for the coffee machine, stares at it in confusion then walks straight out.

"That—was weird."

Riisa shrugs. "You get used to it. She's Sakurai-kun's girlfriend so she comes every now and then. Exact opposites, those two, and yet they strangely work. I don't quite get it."

Yuko raises an eyebrow. "Unlike how you and Matsumoto-san are more similar than not?"

"Exactly," Riisa says with a smirk.

"...You're not denying it?" Yuko asks.

Riisa shrugs. "No one's ever asked. There's nothing to deny. I like him."

Yuko smiles. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Wear him down until he finally admits he likes me," Riisa says. "I'm patient enough. It's no trouble."

Yuko laughs and shakes her head. "Why don't we bring the party to them?"

"Or we could just eat all the cake without them."

"Or that," Yuko says, grinning at Riisa. They both grab spoons.

† † †  
Secret Bonus 2  
† † †

Yuko doesn't quite understand why Nino is smiling at the moment. "It's just a drawing?" she says.

Nino shakes his head, looking down at Taro's newest art piece. "It's a little more than that." In the drawing of Taro and Yuko, Taro holds the rectangular shape of a Nintendo DS—"Nino" is written in the corner.

**Author's Note:**

>  **1.** Any resemblance of the game to Nino's upcoming movie **Platinum Data** (novel written by Higashino Keigo) is completely 100% intentional.  
>  **2.** The pitch form was taken from [here](http://www.bafta.org/ygd/getting-started/sample-pitches,1186,BA.html).  
>  **3.** Character sprites borrowed from [here](http://spriters-resource.com/ds/daysofmemories3/index.html). Yuko's Mayu is **Whip**. Nino's Ryuhei is **Kyo**. Sato Koichi's Detective Asama is **Geese**. Many thanks to Reen for taking the time to darken Whip's hair to black. ♥


End file.
